September 15, 2017
@muralarts/Instagram
"All Power to All People," a temporary sculpture installed at Thomas Paine Plaza.
A recent visit to a powerful new sculpture from Mural Arts has given Chill Moody a boost of inspiration.
The rapper, who hails from West Philadelphia, took to Instagram on Thursday to share a few lines thought up while checking out the city's new Afro pick sculpture, "All Power to All People," by New York City-based artist Hank Willis Thomas.
The piece of public art is steps away from the divisive statue of former Mayor Frank Rizzo that stands in front of the Municipal Services Building. The Rizzo statue has drawn controversy in recent weeks following August's violent events in Charlottesville, Virginia.
"All Power to All People" is a temporary installment that's part of Mural Arts' annual Monument Lab series, a citywide public art and history project that will feature 21 temporary works from 21 artists in 10 locations throughout the fall.
Chill Moody wrote that he "got inspired, felt like rhyming" during his visit and rapped a few lines in a short video that features Mural Arts' new addition as a backdrop.
He says:
“You see I come from a place that’s built on hope, lately it’s hard to get inspired. Police sirens drown the sound of a kid that’s crying. Block’s hot, they tears frying. For years I’ve been trying, growing sick and tired of being sick and tired. Besides race there’s what is and what ain’t right. In that case we should be fighting the same fight. I tell them all lives matter and they combat that like all lives matter and that’s the part of the chatter that’s gonna divert all attention from the problem at hand, but understand that was part of their plan. There’s too much hate where I’m from. We don’t want the evil, we just wanna be equal. For once to be treated like one of the people the way it’s wrote and I quote, justice for all – fine print, no justice for y’all. It’s time to rewrite wrongs, rewrite laws, do more than recite songs until that time comes, we fight on together.”
The sculpture is 8 feet tall and weighs about 800 pounds, according to Mural Arts, and was added to “to highlight ideas related to community, strength, perseverance, comradeship and resistance to oppression."
Activists and city officials have called for the Rizzo statue to come down over the past month following a "Unite the Right" rally in Charlottesville that led to three deaths after groups of white supremacists marched in opposition to the removal of the city's statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee. The events have ignited a national discussion about homages to controversial leaders, with Rizzo being no exception.
Rizzo, who also served as a police commissioner, used harsh tactics to cut down on crime that did little for Philly's race relations. His New York Times obituary is titled, "Frank Rizzo of Philadelphia Dies at 70; A 'Hero' and 'Villain.'"
The statue was found spray-painted with the words "Black Power" just last month, days after one man threw eggs at the monument.
"We think now is a good time to have that conversation about the statue's future," Lauren Hitt, spokesperson for Mayor Jim Kenney, said in a statement in August. "We need to figure out the proper forum for that conversation in a serious, structured way, but now is the right time."
The lyrics published in this article have been updated.
